Welcome, Woodrow!

Over the years, the Muskoka Wildlife Centre has come to Bondi to present wildlife shows -- I remember one summer when Rufus, at the time a very young bobcat, spent most of his time chasing Dale Gienow and nibbling on ankles...

Now well established at their Centre on Hwy 11 North near Gravenhurst, the Muskoka Wildlife Centre provides both a haven for animals who cannot be "re-wilded" and an educational centre of the highest standard. They deliver over 1300 educational experiences every year, both on and off-site. That's a lot of educating... It's interesting that if you ask children to draw a picture of a wolf before they meet one, the picture is more often than not all big teeth and tiny feet. After they are introduced to the 'real deal', the pictures will tend to be of big feet, never mind the fangs. We feel it is very important to get to know our animal neighbours. People don't value what they don't know. Or, to put it in the words of the Muskoka Wildlife Centre, people protect only what they love and can love only what they understand.

So, with that in mind, Bondi Village is proud and pleased to be this year's sponsor of Woodrow, one of the beavers who lives at MWC. Why Woody? Well, we have a special affinity for beavers. There are beavers living on our 600 acres of wilderness, working hard at building dams and beaver dens, felling trees, constructing canals and log slides. Beavers do a lot of reconstruct their own landscapes, and in the process they create habitat for a whole slew of other animals, birds, reptiles...

Woody, due to a skull fracture suffered when he was trapped as a "nuisance beaver" in his early life, can no longer gnaw his way through trees. He can never again be set free to swim in his own beaver pond, tinker with his own dam, float at the surface on a quiet evening listening to the water trickle and the frogs sing. Woody, due to those injuries, has had to give up a lot of what makes a beaver a beaver. But he has found a wonderful home at Muskoka Wildlife Centre... and he has become a celebrity. He was at the Dwight Winter Carnival, where the children (and adults!) had a chance to feel the lovely thick waterproof coat that he sports year round. He was happy and relaxed in his handler's lap, gnoshing on a banana of all things. He gets around. Brian and Dave dropped by MWC today to say "hello", but Woody was in North Bay on a speaking engagement at the Trapper's Convention...

You may have seen him, on television in February, at the Winter Olympics, with his friends Dale and Jody. Yes, at the Olympics. Woody put in appearances in both Vancouver and Whistler. Unlike the big inflated beavers at the closing ceremony, Woodrow was the Real Thing, and was able to greet visitors to Canada in person. He even got to ride in the bobsled. Which is an experience the beavers in our pond are not likely to have...

To salute the work done at the Muskoka Wildlife Centre, to celebrate our own beavers living wild, and to say thank you to Woodrow for the work he does year round teaching people about living with wildlife, Bondi Village is thrilled to welcome Woodrow the Beaver to our family.